It’s a new week in the NFL, and Monday morning started with a big contract extension between the Seattle Seahawks and wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba. The reigning Offensive Player of the Year agreed to a four-year deal worth $168.6 million, per ESPN’s Adam Schefter. That comes out to $42.15 million per year and makes him the highest-paid wideout to date. Schefter adds that more than $120 million of this new money is guaranteed. How that works with Smith-Njigba still playing on the fourth year of his low-cost rookie contract in 2026 and with his fifth-year option exercised for 2027 remains to be seen.
Either way, that’s a big deal for Smith-Njigba’s old college teammate Chris Olave. The New Orleans Saints wide receiver is set to play on his fifth-year option in 2026, but he’s been actively negotiating a long-term extension of his own. And this Smith-Njigba news is a rising tide that lifts all ships. Olave shouldn’t take his place at the top of the wide receiver market — he shouldn’t, given Smith-Njigba’s younger age, greater production, clean bill of health, two Pro Bowls and other accomplishments — but it does make the $111 million projection we discussed over the weekend look like small potatoes. Instead of chasing the $32.5 million per year that another former Ohio State Buckeye, Garrett Wilson, got in his New York Jets contract extension Olave has a higher bar to chase.
Both sides went into these talks knowing it would be expensive. Olave is a great player and he deserves to be paid like one. The Saints see him as a cornerstone of their offense and one of their greatest assets for helping second-year quarterback Tyler Shough reach his potential. What’s more important than the total value or per-year average is the guarantees. Smith-Njigba’s guarantees are staggering, and on its face, so are Wilson’s ($90 million). The devil in these details is that Wilson was only guaranteed $38.3 million at signing, with the rest locking in on a before-next-year basis. His 2027 base salary was guaranteed this March. His 2028 base salary (another $26.8 million) will guarantee next March. We’re still waiting to see how Smith-Njigba’s contract will be structured, but the Saints will have options while working on their next $100 million contract.
This article originally appeared on Saints Wire: Seahawks’ Jaxon Smith-Njigba contract will help Saints WR Chris Olave
About the Author
